Dimas Ekky Pratama initially looked to have fared worst, as it was his own body which slid into Marco Bezzecchi’s bike and took the Italian down after hitting Gardner’s bike.

Gardner, on the other hand, seemed to have had an extremely lucky escape given that Alex Marquez clouted the Australian’s bike, which soaked up the majority of the force before the Spaniard’s machine struck Gardner himself.

After both were taken to the medical centre, however, Pratama was declared fit and Gardner ruled unfit due to concussion.

The 21-year-old’s post-round review reveals that ONEXOX TKKR SAG Racing was actually working to try and fix his #87 bike so that he would be able to take the restart, as Marc VDS successfully did so for Marquez.

“We missed the front row by the smallest margin but I felt really good with the bike, the team and everything that is happening so was really excited for the race,” recalled Gardner.

“After a good warm up I thought we would have a good race.

“I made a decent start and after a bit of elbowing into turn one I slotted into third and then I high-sided and that was the end of what could have been another really good race result.

“I still don’t fully understand why I went down and then they wouldn’t let me restart.”